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A group of 90 present and retired professors at the University of Ottawa is demanding the university divest its endowment fund and pension plan of fossil fuel investments as a way of battling climate change.
The professors, from 14 departments, have signed an open letter to university president Allan Rock and the board of governors that says the move “is not only morally necessary, but also financially wise.”
“I’m aware that fossil fuel companies are not going to stop their operations just because the University of Ottawa chose to divest, but I do think that as more and more organizations divest, it does send an actual message,” said Jessica Forrest, an assistant professor of biology, who signed the open letter. “That’s more than just symbolic.”
The letter cites scientific studies that say nine of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 2000, and predict a continued rise in temperature and sea level, and a decline in biodiversity as a result of climate change.
The letter blames the fossil fuel industry for resisting the change to a low-carbon economy and says its business model compels companies to exploit carbon resources still in the ground.
“By remaining invested in the industry, the University indicates that it supports the continued extraction and development of fossil fuels and the climatic and other environmental consequences these entail,” the letter says.
“A public institution like the University of Ottawa, dedicated to elevating the lives of young people, should not simultaneously invest in the destruction of their future.”
“Obviously divestment is not an overnight thing, but it is a principled stance,” said Daniel Cayley-Daoust of the group Fossil Free uOttawa. About $55 million of the school’s pension plan is directly invested in fossil fuel companies, he said.
But divesting might not be the most effective tactic, said Tessa Begg, an expert in ethical investing at Carleton University who was asked by the University of Ottawa to produce a Fossil Free Report.
“Divestment is a blunt instrument,” she said. “We know that if you sell your shares, then someone else is going to buy them. Then you’ve lost your ability to influence decision making.”
The world needs to move quickly to a low-carbon economy and keeping oil reserves in the ground is only one part of addressing that problem, she said. Other divestment campaigns, like the successful anti-apartheid movement in the 1970s and ’80s, had a simpler goal than the global challenge of climate change, she said.
The movement to divest from fossil fuels is growing on Canadian campuses. Last winter, faculty at the University of British Columbia voted in favour of urging that school to have a fossil fuel-free investment portfolio. Similar votes have been held at other schools, including the University of Toronto, Simon Fraser University and Mount Allison University.
Faculty at five other universities are circulating similar open letters. The United Church of Canada and the Canadian Medical Association have also voted to divest from fossil-fuel holdings.
This week, Mark Carney, the Canadian who is governor of the Bank of England, warned of the long-term risk that climate change presents the world’s financial markets.
The University of Ottawa follows the United Nations-backed Responsible Investment Guideline in its financial holdings, which balances the school’s investment goals with “environmental, social and governance.”
In a statement, the university said its Finance Committee is still studying the Fossil Free Report and would report to the Board of Governors in the coming months.
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
The professors, from 14 departments, have signed an open letter to university president Allan Rock and the board of governors that says the move “is not only morally necessary, but also financially wise.”
“I’m aware that fossil fuel companies are not going to stop their operations just because the University of Ottawa chose to divest, but I do think that as more and more organizations divest, it does send an actual message,” said Jessica Forrest, an assistant professor of biology, who signed the open letter. “That’s more than just symbolic.”
The letter cites scientific studies that say nine of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 2000, and predict a continued rise in temperature and sea level, and a decline in biodiversity as a result of climate change.
The letter blames the fossil fuel industry for resisting the change to a low-carbon economy and says its business model compels companies to exploit carbon resources still in the ground.
“By remaining invested in the industry, the University indicates that it supports the continued extraction and development of fossil fuels and the climatic and other environmental consequences these entail,” the letter says.
“A public institution like the University of Ottawa, dedicated to elevating the lives of young people, should not simultaneously invest in the destruction of their future.”
“Obviously divestment is not an overnight thing, but it is a principled stance,” said Daniel Cayley-Daoust of the group Fossil Free uOttawa. About $55 million of the school’s pension plan is directly invested in fossil fuel companies, he said.
But divesting might not be the most effective tactic, said Tessa Begg, an expert in ethical investing at Carleton University who was asked by the University of Ottawa to produce a Fossil Free Report.
“Divestment is a blunt instrument,” she said. “We know that if you sell your shares, then someone else is going to buy them. Then you’ve lost your ability to influence decision making.”
The world needs to move quickly to a low-carbon economy and keeping oil reserves in the ground is only one part of addressing that problem, she said. Other divestment campaigns, like the successful anti-apartheid movement in the 1970s and ’80s, had a simpler goal than the global challenge of climate change, she said.
The movement to divest from fossil fuels is growing on Canadian campuses. Last winter, faculty at the University of British Columbia voted in favour of urging that school to have a fossil fuel-free investment portfolio. Similar votes have been held at other schools, including the University of Toronto, Simon Fraser University and Mount Allison University.
Faculty at five other universities are circulating similar open letters. The United Church of Canada and the Canadian Medical Association have also voted to divest from fossil-fuel holdings.
This week, Mark Carney, the Canadian who is governor of the Bank of England, warned of the long-term risk that climate change presents the world’s financial markets.
The University of Ottawa follows the United Nations-backed Responsible Investment Guideline in its financial holdings, which balances the school’s investment goals with “environmental, social and governance.”
In a statement, the university said its Finance Committee is still studying the Fossil Free Report and would report to the Board of Governors in the coming months.
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
